New trial regulations for the Portage Lake Lift Bridge are restricting the times during which the bridge will be lifted for most boats. The regulations took effect Thursday. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo by Garrett Neese)

HOUGHTON — It wasn’t everything local officials asked for, but some trial regulations now restrict when the Portage Lake Lift Bridge must go up for boats.

In a trial period that started Thursday and runs through Sept. 6, the bridge will open to most boat traffic only during the top of the hour and the half-hour between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard approved the change, which was requested by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

That doesn’t apply on federal holidays. And the bridge will still open on signal for boats more than 300 feet long, or when five or more vessels are lined up.

Local efforts to change procedures accelerated last year, when automobile traffic backlogs from bridge lifts were compounded by construction on the bridge that closed one or more lanes for most of the summer.

Houghton Police Chief John Donnelly was part of a working group that had pushed for changes, including the ability to bar lifts entirely during peak traffic periods.

“We do believe this will start getting the boat traffic to start looking at the bridge and trying to get through there at more appropriate times,” he said. “So it is a step in the right direction.”

Because the Portage Canal is a federal waterway, changes to bridge operation require congressional approval. The U.S. Coast Guard will take public comment through Nov. 1 on whether it should make a permanent change.

A full copy of the decision, as well as instructions for submitting comments, is available at regulations.gov/document/USCG-2022-0237-0001.

Residents can help convey the severity of the issue to U.S. Coast Guard officials in Ohio who haven’t experienced it firsthand, Donnelly said. During the peak of problems last year, Donnelly said, he had tried to explain the situation.

“That’s when we had people flipping us off through the window and screaming and yelling at us during construction,” he said. “And he’s like, ‘Well, you’re the only one that’s called me about this.’… I wanted to forward my cell phone on to his.”

In other action, the council:

— Voted to direct City Manager Eric Waara to negotiate a written agreement with Michigan Technological University for the maintenance of ski and bike trails on Nara Nature Park property pending a meeting of the parks subcommittee next month.

— Approved four Downtown Development Authority mini-facade grants for businesses on Shelden Avenue: $4,750 to Litsenberger, LLC (The Print Shop), $4,750 to The Barber Shop, $4,750 to Joey’s Seafood and Grill, $4,750 to Keweenaw Coffee Works and $1,000 to Michigan Made. The DDA typically budgets about $20,000 per year for facade improvements. Four of the recipients are existing businesses in downtown; Keweenaw Coffee Works is planning to open a Houghton location at the site most recently used by 5th & Elm.

— Heard an update from Waara on the city’s pier project work. The city is waiting on the approval of the amendment to the city’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit to allow the project to avoid the AT&T data cable across the Portage Canal. It will cost extra, Waara said, but the additional cost is still unknown. Some contingency had been built into the project as part of the bid. A change order should come to the council in late June or early July.

— Heard from Waara the city has gotten a preliminary proposal from Waste Management on a new contract for waste pickup. Waste Management is looking to go to a contactless pickup, which would entail moving away from bags and towards containers that the truck can pick up automatically. The city is also looking at other providers, Waara said.

— Heard from Donnelly that the police department had received a $140,000 grant for further training of officers. The department also heard from MDOT, and it will take a look at improving the M-26 corridor to reduce the amount of traffic accidents on the road.

— Heard from Waara on legislative updates from the recent Michigan Municipal League spring conference in Marquette. House bills 6133 and 6134 would place revenue-sharing money for municipalities into a trust fund; this would create more certainty regarding how much money would be coming to municipalities, Waara said.